Safety device for elevators



May 12, 1925. 1,537,350

L. C. HALBIN SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS Filed Dec, 26, 1922 2 Sheets-$heet l W N gnou/tov Zee HaZZM Stumm,

' 1,537,350 L. HALBIN SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS,

Filed Dec. 26, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z V mN. MN ,.l- MN. Q TK @we www m NN.

m\ @N N N mw @N QN o o I I, u o o l m W//A 0 0 lbf D 0 ha l May l2, 1925.

Nh @um Patented May 12, 1925'.

NIT E D S T LEE'C. HALBIN; on MURPHYsBoRo, ILLINoI's.

SAFETY' DEVICE nonl EnEV-Arens:

Application filed-December 26, 1922.- Serial .I\1'o.6091,016

To all whom t may concern 1 Beit linown that I, LEE C. HALBIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Murpliysboro, in the, county of Jackson, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful linprovements'in Safety Devices for Elevators; and I'dohereby; declare the following to be a full', clear, and exact description of thel invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to4 which it appertains to make and use the same.

rThis invention relates to new and' useful improvements in safety devices and particularly to safety devices for elevators.

One object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved mechanism which will automatically grip the uprights of the elevator shaft and stop the elevator car within a short space, whereby the car is effectively prevented from dropping to the bottom of .the shaft.

Another object is to provide av novely and improved device of this character which is simple in construction, positive in operation7 and which can be readily and easily installed in elevators now in use.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent fromV the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:y

1Figure 1 is an elevation of an elevator car and portions of the shaft, showing the safety device in normal inoperative position.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the device in operative position.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the car, the uprights of the shaft being horizontally sectioned.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the elevator car and portion of the shaft showing the safety cams which engage with the upright, the dotted position showing the cams engaged with the upright.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view through the upper portion of the car and the upright engaging gears, on the line 5 5 of Figure 3.

Referring particularly to the accompanying drawings, represents the uprights of the shaft on the inner face of each of which is formed or secured a longitudinal toothed rack 11. Slidable vertically between these uprights is the elevator car which includes the platform or floor 12, the uprights 13, and the upper transverse beam 14 connected to the upper ends of the uprights 13. Mounted onthe outerI face of` the upper end of eahof the uprightsl isan angular' U-shaped guide-15 which engages with the adjacent upright` 1Q of the shaft and holds the car against rockingy movement. lar guides 16 are carried by the lower portions of theuprights 13,1also engaging with the uprights 1 0. Braces 17 extend fromthe upper ends-of the uprights lf3 tothe corners of the: floor of the car. The type of ca-r andshaft herein illustrated isjsuch asis used in mines, but it should` be, understoody that the application ofthepresent invention. is equally applicable to other types of elevators.

Upwardly extending loop guides 18 are carried by the transversebeam 14, andl slidable on the beam, longitudinally thereof, and1 within the guides, are the bars 19, each having on its outer end the bearings 20 which support the shaft 21. On the shaft 21, between the bearings, is a toothed wheel 22 which is'adapted to engage with the rack 11, when the bar is rmoved outwardly, as will be more clearly explained hereinafter. Secured to the inner end of one Iof the bars 19 is av toothed rack bar 2 3 the teeth `of which are arranged to'be engaged by a pawl 24 carried by theinnen end of the other bar 19, whereby the bars 19 can be adjusted toward and away from each other, according to the width of the elevator shaft with which the invention is used. A bowed spring 25 extends between the bars 19 and has its ends secured thereto, the intermediate portion of the spring having the cable 26 secured to and extending upwardly therefrom. This cable is the lifting` and lowering cable for the car, as will be readily understood. 1t will be noted that when the weight of the car is on the cable 26, the spring 25 is bowed upwardly to a greater extent, with the result that the bars 19 are withdrawn so that the pinions 22 are out of engagement with the racks 11. This is the normal condition of the parts when the elevator is in operation, but should the cable 26 break. the spring 25 would automatically resume its normal flat, or partially flat, condition and push the bars outwardly so that the pinions 22 would engage with the teeth of the racks 11 and be rotated thereby.

The shafts 21 extend short distances from opposite sides of the beam 14 and have the peripheral flanges 27 thereon, wher-ebtY winding drums are provided, and to whiclL are secured the ends of cables 28. Mounted in brackets 29, onthe bottom of the car, and arranged to engage with two opposite vertical faces of each upright 10, are the pivoted cams 30, said cams being normally held out of contact with the uprights by the springs 3l. The other ends ofthe cables 2S are each connected to a cam 30, so that when the shafts 21 are rotated by engagement of the pinions 22 with the racks ll, the cams will be moved so as to engage with the uprights 10, when the weight of the car will cause the cams to bind tightly againstI the uprights 10 and hold the car from movement downward.

In the opposite longer side faces of the bars 19 there are formed grooves 32 in which engage the inturned upper ends of the plates 33 which are secured to the opposite sides of the uprights 13, and whereby7 the said bars are held in, proper alignment when moved into and out of operative position. Y

yIt will thus be seen that should the cable 26. break and the car fall, the spring 25 would assume its normal flat condition and thus push the bars 19 outwardly so that the pinions 22 would engage with the racks 1l, and as the car moved downwardly in the shaft these pinions would rotate to wind the cables 28 on the shafts 2l and pull the cams 30 into engagement with the uprights l0, and thus bring the car to aV stop.

lUpon the weight of the car being again supported by the new cable which replaced the broken cable 26, the bars 19 would be withdrawn so that the pinions would not mesh with the racks and the springs 31 withdraw the cams from engagement with the uprights 10. The car would then be restored to its normal condition, and operation thereof permitted.

Thusthere-is provided a novel and improved device for an elevator whereby dan-V ger of the car dropping to the bottom of the elevator shaft, with the usual disastrous re sults, effectively prevented.

What is claimed is:

l.- The combination .with the uprights of an elevator shaft and the car thereof, of rack bars mounted on the uprights, transversely slidable members mounted on the car, pinions and associated winding drums mounted on and movable with the slidable members, wedge gripping means on the car for engagement with the untoothed side faces of the uprights, and cables connected to the drums for winding thereon and to the wedge means.

2. The combination withvan elevator car and the uprights of the elevator shaft, of racks on the uprights, transversely and onpositely slidable barsV on the car, shafts on the slidable bars, "pinions and winding e' drums on the shafts, the pinions being arranged to engage` with'and be rotated by the racks to rotate the drums, cams mounted on the car and arranged to engage with the opposite untoothed A'side faces of the uprights, and cables` connected to and windable on the drums and'connected to the cams. n Y

In testimony whereof, I aliix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses LEE C. HALBIN.`

Witnesses: Y

LAWRENCE A. GLENN, 'HARRY E. SANDERS. 

